PS 3509 
.V6P4 

1909 


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A VISION 



By 
WILLIAM EVERETT 



BOSTON 

W. B. CLARKE COMPANY 

26 AND 28 Tremont St. 

1909 



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COPYRICxHT, 1909 

WILLIAM EVERETT 

QUINCY, MASS, 



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'^N the days of the Pilgrims' coming, 
In the days of the Christmas feast, 
When the Prince of Peace was shown 
to men 

By the star that gleamed in the P^ast, 
My soul was thrilled by a vision, — - 
No dream of the midnight hours. 
But a morning glimpse within the veil 
That hideth the future's powers. 



On the eyes of my gazing spirit 

Rose the walls of my country's home. 

With many an arch and column, 
With many a tower and dome. 
( -> ) 



lO 



Untold were its stones and timbers, 

All earth's commingled spoil, 
And each was scarred with the chisels 15 

Of daring and pain and toil. 
One instant a shapeless medley, 

Where a score of rival shrines 
Were jostled in rude confusion, 

As by demons' fell designs. 20 

In the next their jarring framework 

Was lost in an ordered whole. 
And there rose from every roof and wall 

The breath of a forming soul. 



Tall shafts of a chastened beauty, 25 

Instinct with the grace of yore, 
Upheld rude beams which the settler's axe 

Unshaped from the woodland tore. 
From low, stern arches undecked and bare, 

With the Pilgrims' names embossed, 30 

(4) 



Soared into heaven fantastic spires 

By airs from the Orient tossed. 
And ever the fabric shifted 

With the beating of hands and feet, 
Now sordid and now majestic, 35 

Now ragged and now complete. 



And ever through arch and portal 

Streamed onward an endless crowd, 
Now singing with mirth and hope and pride, 

Now sullen or wailing loud. 40 

The features of all were varied 

With the stamp of many a land. 
And the dwellers within called harshly 

To block each entering band. 
Then anon those tones of discord 45 

In harmony seemed to blend. 
And from gates and halls responsive came 

The greeting of friend to friend. 



And still, as that lofty portal 

Loomed clearer from off the ground, 50 

I marked how its marble pediment 

Three forms heroic crowned. 
Aloft on its peak stood Freedom, 

With proud and fearless gaze, 
Ungirt was her striped and spangled robe, 55 

And her brows were wreathed with bays. 
At her right stood bold Adventure ; 

An axe in the air he swung. 
Till it seemed with his every wielding 

The temple quivered and rung. 60 

On her left stood sober Order, 

Begirt with an ancient blade. 
And the hilt she grasped .till the sounds were 
hushed 

And the quivering framework stayed. 

Beneath, as the platform's warders, 65 

Stood many a figure tall, 

(6) 



Each bent on some high endeavor, 

One impulse among them all. 
Strong Labor, with spade and anvil. 

Bright Commerce with wheel and mnst, 70 
Dark miners with picks to burrow. 

Stout fishers, with seines to cast. 
Deep Science, remoulding nature. 

Keen Art, bringing gold from dross, 
Instruction with open volume, 75 

Religion with lifted cross. 
One moment all stood asunder. 

As jealous each for his own, 
And the next in one were they mingled. 

As helpless to work alone. 80 

Yet oft from their fixed attention 

They turned, and with anxious eye. 
Looked wistful where, beneath Freedom's feet. 

Projected a balcony. 
It seemed like a post of vantage, 85 

For some form of might to stand, 

(7 ) 



That should range and rule those potent 
crafts 

By its word of high command. 
And lo ! from within the temple 

A clash of music rang, 90 

The sweet full chords of a silver harp, 

And the clarion's brazen clang. 
Still clearer they pealed and echoed. 

And forth through that window fair 
There stepped to light beneath Freedom's 

feet 95 

A strange, discordant pair. 

The first was a stately matron, — 

Her look was kind yet .bold, 
And the robe was drawn o'er her bosom's 
swell 

With a girdle of gems and gold ; 100 

Her forehead was bound with olive, 

And an ivory rod she bore. 



Like the master's wand who controls the 
halls 

Where floods of music pour. 
The other a stalwart athlete, 105 

Defiant and proud of mien, 
And his Hmbs in ancient mail were clad 

That flashed with a brazen sheen ; 
In his hand an ebon truncheon 

He wielded with haughty sign, no 

As a marshal signs to his serried troop 

To charge on the hostile line. 
And both on the platform's warders 

The beck of a sovereign threw, 
As though the toilers of every craft 1 1 5 

To their high behest they drew. 

Then some their tools grasped firmer, 

As they sought the warrior's side, 
And their faces with fiercest glow were lit 

From a newborn force and pride ; 120 

(9) 



And some with an eager motion 

To the side of the lady pressed, 
And deep there shone from within their 
eyes 

A hunger for calm and rest, 
And wavering back and forward 125 

Now hero, now dame, all sought. 
As though hope and fear contended. 

And longing with ardor fought. 

Then sounded again the bugle, 

As the soldier moved to speak, 130 

And I saw where many a ghastly scar 

Had seamed his sunburnt cheek : — 
" I claim in this house of Freedom 

That her forces and stores are mine. 
Stamped as my own to spend or save 1 3 5 

By this, the hero's sign. 
Go back through your country's story. 

And read on its every page 
( 10) 



Mine was the call that woke to life 

The sons of a nobler age. 140 

By the blood of the Pilgrim, slaughtered 

When the red man fired his cot, 

By the blood of the farmer, fallen 
On Freedom's birthday spot, — 
By the tars that sank in the ocean 145 

That your flag might rule its waves, 
By the shreds of blue and grey that weave 

Their carpet o'er Southern graves, 
By the sickness and toil and patience 

In prison and camp and mine, 150 

By the reckless charge and the grim retreat 

Where line was locked with line, — 
By the thousand hearts my bugle spurred 

To the bastion's dread assault, 
By the wealth untold my summons drew 155 

From the patriot merchant's vault, 
By the men that scoffed at sloth or gain 
]^y the women their hearts that steeled, 
( li ) 



By the boys that sprang when they heard 
my call, 

Full-armed from their native field, — i6o 

That the proudest beyond the waters 

May tremble to hear your name. 
That the meanest in all your borders 

Be guarded from loss and shame, — 
By the stars in your crown of splendor, 165 

By the stripes that your foeman scar, 
To order the home of Freedom 

Is the duty and right of War ! " 



And still as his haughty challenge 

Afar from the platform, rang, 170 

There thundered in hoarse approval 

The trumpet's answering clang. 
And the crowd that swayed through the 
portal 

Shouted with loud acclaim, 

(12) 



And far through the courts and aisles and 

stairs lyc 

Was echoed the soldier's name. 
And the axe of bold Adventure 

Swung free to the air on high, 
And shout on shout from the warders pealed 

As they caught the hero's eye : — i8o 

" Lead us, thou lord of glory ! 

Our works and our wealth are thine ! 
Lead, till thou break each rival's power, 

And all earth obey thy sign." 

Then clear through that shout of passion 185 

'Floated the harp's pure tone, 
And the matron spoke as it died away 

In music that seemed its own : — 
" I claim in this house of Freedom 

That its forces and stores are mine, 190 

Whom God hath marked as his handmaid 

By this garland's sacred sign. 

( 13 ) 



Go back through your country's story 

And read on its every page 
'Twas I that roused from the night of time 195 

The sons of a better age. 
By the axes that felled your forests, 

By the ploughs that turned your soil, 
By the wheels that have curbed your rivers, 

And made the cataracts toil ; 200 

By the mines that have pierced the moun- 
tains 

To drag their wealth to the day. 
By the forge that rings and the loom that 
sings. 

And the nets that sweep the bay, 
By the arches that spaa the torrent, 205 

By the keels that cleave the brine. 
By the cords of steel that remotest homes 

In a network of love entwine, 
By the whispering tube that laughs at space, 

By the wire that conquers time, 210 

( 14 ) 



By the searching rays through the flesh that 



gaze 



Revealing the tracks of crime, — 
By the treasure my hands have gathered 

That his would squander and spend, 
By the boys I bear for their land to live 2 1 5 

That yon bugle to death would send, — 
By the fires and floods and famines 

That your sons and your daughters fight, 
By the feet that bring to sorrow and 
wrong 

Heahng and strength and light, — 220 

By the schools where your children gather, 

By the spires where your fathers prayed. 
By the halls where your wise in council 

The passion of fools have stayed, — 
That your brothers beyond the waters 225 

May revere and love your name. 
That your children in all your borders 

May be shielded from woe and shame, — 
(13) 



By the stars in your crown of splendor 

By the stripes that your country bind, 230 

Give Peace the rule within Freedom's home, 
God's angel to bless mankind." 

Then, as paused that voice majestic. 

The answering music rang 
From the blending chords of the silver harp, 235 

And the host responsive sang. 
They poured through the aisles and arches 

With a gay and glad acclaim, 
And tears with their mirth were mingled, 

As they echoed that lady's name. 240 

From sires on their staves that tottered, 

From mothers that babes upheld. 
From youths and maids with their arms en- 
twined 

One joyous chorus swelled. 
And the hand of sober Order 245 

Fell from her needless blade, 

(16) 



And the gladsome song that the warders 
sang 
To the harp sweet echo made : — 
" Lead us, thou lovely lady ! 

Our works and our wealth are thine! 250 

Lead till thou bind the lands in one, 
And man shall be all divine." 

They stood and gazed at each other 

Strong hero and lovely dame, 
And the cheeks of each were glowing 255 

With a strange and rival flame. 
And lo ! By a burst united 

Arose from the swaying crowd. 
With hands uplifted and pleading eyes, 

To Freedom a summons loud : — 260 

*' Speak, Goddess, who art our country ! 

Speak and let discord cease ! 
For the hearts of men their pulse must hold 

Till thou yield thee to war or peace." 
( 1/ ) 



And the sound of that mighty yearning 265 

Drew tears from my inmost heart, 
And my eyes were dimmed with a mist of 
care 

That I strove in vain to part. 
And murmurs came through the darkness 

Now wrathful and now more calm, 270 

Till they seemed to blend in a solemn strain 

Like an ancient minster psalm. 
Then the vision passed from my spirit, 

As I rose to the daylight's call, 
And looked in doubt on the world without 275 

Unknowing what fate might fall ; 
And I saw how the earth was mantled 

With the winter's stainless fleece, 
While the morning bells were chiming 

For the birth of the Prince of Peace. 280 



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